Two face charges after deer slug hits home

Two deer hunters are facing charges after a shotgun slug entered an occupied home in western Iowa’s Harrison County. Iowa Department of Natural Resources spokesperson Kevin Baskins says it happened Saturday afternoon when the men shot at a deer crossing a roadway.

“In doing so, they missed the deer but actually hit an occupied residence on the north side of Missouri Valley. The deer slug passed through the wall of the house and lodged into the ceiling,” Baskins said. “Fortunately, nobody was hurt. There were people home at the time, but there were no injuries reported with this incident.”

The hunters are identified as 64-year-old Stephen Kenkel of Grinnell and 52-year-old Gail C. Lamberson of Logan. Both men are charged with one count of shooting within 200 yards of an inhabited building and Kenkel faces an additional charge of shooting over a roadway.

“I think incidents like this underscore, that it’s much more important to be safe out there than to harvest that deer,” Baskins said.